Nature

While much of Europe’s rare nature is safeguarded on paper, in practice it does not always receive the high levels of protection it should do. Nature protection efforts are being undermined by the European Commission’s failure to consistently challenge Member States on illegal nature destruction. Find out more about where nature is under threat across the EU - and how well the EU Commission is doing at enforcing the laws that should protect nature, when the alarm is raised.

This report with BirdLife Europe, European Environmental Bureau and WWF assesses the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives in 18 Member States. It finds that, while the majority of the Member States assessed (67%) have fully incorporated the Birds and Habitat Directives into national law, they have failed to implement them properly. This means EU protected wildlife and habitats are not receiving the protection they need and have been promised.

A spectacular nature haven in southwestern Bulgaria, home to twice as many butterfly species as the whole of the UK and protected by EU nature laws, is under threat from an EU-funded motorway from Sofia to Greece. This briefing analyses the disastrous impacts the motorway would have on local nature and communities, highlights viable alternative routes which would mitigate impacts on both, and calls on the European Commission and the Bulgarian government to reroute the project.